Foreign workers plant cypress trees at a farm in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, June 13, 2023. Korea Times file

The amount of overdue wages paid instead by the Korean government for foreign workers has doubled in four years, according to government data revealed on Monday.

According to documents submitted by the state-run Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL) to Rep. Kim So-hee of the ruling People Power Party, the organization paid more than 79 billion won ($59 million) of unpaid wages to non-Korean workers last year, up from 40.3 billion won in 2019.

The amount accounted for 11.5 percent of the total overdue wages paid by the organization in 2023.

Small business owners, with four or fewer employees, accounted for 39 billion won, or close to half of the total.

By region, Gyeonggi Province including Incheon topped the list with 25.5 billion won, followed by Seoul (18 billion won) and the Jeolla provinces including Gwangju (10.9 billion won).

By industry, manufacturing came first, followed by construction.

In a press release, the lawmaker called on the K-COMWEL to step up efforts to make such business owners to pay for what they owe to the organization.

"We should support foreign workers who have been victimized by the malpractice, but at the same time, the organization should improve its system to minimize the amount of money it pays to workers on behalf of such employers by, for example, strengthening labor supervision," Kim said.